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Miscarriages - your questions answered
cl-sonyasrose: A question of my own here with regards to being Rhesus Negative blood group. Firstly, can this be the cause of some miscarriages? Are women with this type of blood group more likely to suffer miscarriages? Secondly, I'm now 22-weeks pregnant and have Rh Neg blood, should I be given regular doses of Anti-D injection throughout pregnancy? When I asked my midwife about it, she was very vague and didn't give me a straight answer. However, I have heard on other boards about women who regularly visit the hospital for injections. I'm just a little worried that my blood group will affect my baby
Dr. Gillian Lockwood: I hope the pregnancy is going well. This is how rhesus works. When a Rhesus D negative mother delivers a rhesus D positive baby, a leak of foetal blood cells into mum's circulation may stimulate her to produce antibodies called anti-D. In subsequent pregnancies, the antibody can cross the placenta and cause rhesus haemolytic disease in the baby (like a very sever anaemia). Your baby could be rhesus positive if baby's father is rhesus positive, as it is a 'dominant' condition.
Prevention is better than cure, so all Rhesus negative mothers should be tested for anti-D antibodies at booking, 28 and 34 weeks gestation. All rhesus negative mums should get an injection of anti-D after delivery or miscarriage or if they have a significant bleed in pregnancy (threatened miscarriage). If the baby is affected by the antibodies then it is possible to give the baby a blood transfusion whilst it is still in the womb. Affected babies may be jaundiced at birth and require an exchange transfusion or ultraviolet light therapy. Rhesus incompatibility can be a cause of late miscarriage, which is why it is so important to check the blood group.
nickix2002: Just wondering if you could help. I had my fourth miscarriage three weeks ago, and this one was a missed miscarriage, like two of the others. I was wondering when to count my cycle days from? I had a bleed on the 12th of September, and it was slight, and on the 15th, it was confirmed that the baby had died about 7 days earlier, then I went on to miscarry naturally on the 19th. This bleed lasted for about 8 days. Then I had another scan and was told that my womb was 'nice and empty,' also, I seem to have some pregnancy symptoms, and was wondering if these could be residual or could I in fact be pregnant again.
Dr Gillian: I'm so sorry to hear about your miscarriages. Have you had any successful pregnancies? After four miscarriages you should be referred to a specialist recurrent miscarriage clinic for tests. It certainly is possible to get pregnant after a miscarriage before you have a 'normal' period (in the same way as it is possible to get pregnant whilst breast feeding). It all depends on how far on the pregnancy was as to where you are in your ovulatory cycle. When they did the scan, did they comment on the ovaries? It is possible to see if someone is going to ovulate quite soon.
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